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You need to do customer development, check out books like "The Mom Test" and "Lean Customer Development". But before your prospective customers will want to talk to you you need to get some credibility. Try to create some content that solves problems that they are aware of, then you'll be able to talk with them.
I'm reading a really interesting book about motivation right now. It's about motivation and work but would work with kids too. I haven't finished it but what I'm seeing is that extrinsic motivation is good for things that are boring and rote, but bad if the work take creativity or thinking.
>[are] you speaking for 8 billion... people [?]
No.
I'm recognizing that people are motivated by more than just money.
A fact that's immediately obvious to anyone who has ever had to actually manage people.
Keep it simple as you can. My suggestion is star to talk with your customer following the The Mom Test rules.
The Mom Test in a nutshell is:
- Talk with your customers about their life instead of your idea
- Ask them about specifics in the past instead of generics or opinions about the future
- Talk less and listen more
It’s called The Mom Test because it leads to questions that even your mom can’t lie to you about.
Book some videocalls with 5-10 of your customers and ask them about how they use your product in their life or if they use it for a specific use case ask questions around the use case. For example if the use case is: saving money for my next vacations, some questions could be:
- How was you last vacations?
- How did you decide where to go?
- Did you define a budget for it?
- Did you saving for it?
- How did you saving for it?
- What were the implications of that?
While you are talking with them you star to notice patterns and identify needs or pains, it is a good staring point to level up your product discovery to specific topics.
Product discovery is apply a lot of differents technies and tools to discover how to build the right product, but in the end all of them look to give you an undestanding of your customer, so talk with them is the basic for that.
IMO focus on the supply side first is great. To approach the sellers I would choose 1 or 2 platforms as sources of possible users, maybe FB Marketplace and Heyauto.
Then I would search for around 100 sellers on the platforms to contact them. For example, I would contact sellers by FB Messenger with the excuse of learning more about the business of selling used cars with a cold message like this: Hey Bob, i have seen you have a lot of expertise in selling used car and I want to learn more about it for my [insert any excuse here(podcast, homework, etc)]. Could we chat a few minutes about it?
You will need to reach 100 sellers to get 25 calls (a great conversion rate) and try not to sell anything, remember your goal is learn.
Learn more about the types of questions you should ask in the book, The Mom Test
Read this: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0060YIBLK/ref=cm_sw_r_apan_CC3C63AKJYE4N73R1SPG
They're not paying me, it's just helped me alot.
Author is a Cia or FBI (can't recall) interrogator, but his whole technique is be friendly and likeable so they trust you and volunteer information vs like torture etc.
Book is written really simply and straightforward like an army field manual. Tells you direct techniques to appear friendly and likeable in a conversation. How to get people comfortable with your presence etc.
When I actively read it the first time, I just tried the advice out talking to gas station attendants and the like, just to see. Within 10 minutes the guy broke down and told me about his divorce, his anxieties over custody battle, just really told me wayy too much. (Has worked for several people not just the one guy but oof.)
Really helped me and a bunch of friends I've lent it to. One friend called it "the closest thing I've read to a real like skill book from skyrim".
(Context: I am diagnosed ADHD and suspect undiagnosed ASD, so I have to manually navigate conversations, can't do it by feel. This book helped ALOT)
Hope it helps 🤙
It's a pretty useful sales methodology. It's not the only thing out there but could definitely be useful for folks working more complicated sales with teams of buyers.
https://www.amazon.com/Challenger-Sale-Control-Customer-Conversation/dp/1591844355
I can give you some tips to start. :)
From an idea to a viable business, you need to focus on refining your idea with good feedback. Asking the right question is key. If you read "The Mom Test" you will know what I'm talking about.
Your job, in the beginning, should be generating good conversation and identifying your ideal customers. This way you have enough information to help you refine your idea into something that people want/need.
If you are worried about people copying your idea which seems to be an issue I see a lot. Make your product unique to your own experience/expertise or give yourself a time frame (ex. 3 months) so you can move fast with a plan in place.
Please let me know if this is helpful.
I think it’s a tough position because I’m sure you have intellectually curious people doing a sometimes not interesting job. I recommend reading this book:
https://www.amazon.com/Drive-Surprising-Truth-About-Motivates/dp/1594484805
I don’t know your particular solution but the book (I agree with it) argues that people need intrinsic motivation and actually money motivation can be detrimental in many situations.
Maybe they need some meaningful and challenging project to work on here and there. Also time to focus (that’s another book!) on the project would be beneficial.
The person you mentioned getting bored is an example. Maybe the techs can help you figure out what that meaningful and challenging work is? What things can be done to reduce customer issues? What about working on some technology experiments that can help scale the business or increase quality? I’d engage with the techs about it.
Another recommendation I have is to try to foster competition as a team, not competition within a team.
I respect that you care about them and these things!
This is a great book: "Dealers of Lightning: Xerox PARC and the Dawn of the Computer Age". Describes the creation of so many things we take for granted now (ethernet, laser printing, guis, oop). And it really does capture how Xerox corporate couldn't figure out what to do with PARC.
Robert Cialdini wrote about what i think you are describing as "authority" in relation to the term he coined called "compliance techniques." Counselors and other psychotherapists also have authority and a way to positively influence people. I included a link of where one can buy the book.
https://www.amazon.com/Influence-Practice-Robert-B-Cialdini/dp/0205609996
I’ll kick things off with Jay-Z lyrics:
“I sell ice in the winter, I sell fire in Hell I am a hustler, baby, I'll sell water to a whale I was born to get cake, move on and switch states Cop the coupe with the roof gone and switch plates”
This quote makes me think about the idea of skill vs will. Historically in sales roles a person’s will needed to be high, fighting through many No’s for that one Yes. This would be what leadership would attribute success to. There have been some studies completed to show that there are traits that work best in sales that aren’t necessary tied to skill (challenger sale). All that said, I tend to think of roles in terms of barriers to entry. Very low barrier of entry in sales outside of having the ability to hold a conversation with people. So from that perspective most people can do the role and have some level of success. The notes of the other posts are spot on though that right time and place is a part of the success as well.
If you haven’t already a lot of top sales people I know read the book called. Spin Selling there are alot of books out there but its a requirement for my team and new agents jn the brokerage to read, along with other courses lined up.
I have been most successful in gaining clients through relationship marketing. I go out there and form professional relationships with people. Take them for coffee, nurture them with a quarterly check in but most importantly - do something of value for them on every call. You want them to want to talk to you every time you call. Do introductions for them, send them research or papers that might help them in their work, offer to support a charity or cause that they are passionate about.
Edit: Get this book - it tells you most of what you need to know about selling. https://www.amazon.ca/Neil-Rackham/dp/0070511136/
But you also have to know your target audience. If you PM me, we can book a time to chat. It would help me give you advice if I knew a bit more about your business.
Copywriting is all based on psychology. You are gently, pushing all the trigger points that makes humans act in the manner which you want them to act. You are using words that brings out their inner desires and then you channel that desire into the products that you are trying to sell.
This book is a great book to read: https://www.amazon.com/Influence-Practice-Robert-B-Cialdini/dp/0205609996/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1O0SWRP4XCVJ7&keywords=influence+robert+cialdini&qid=1570820644&sprefix=influence%2Caps%2C169&sr=8-1
You can use Facebook Groups or an appropriate subreddit.
But before you start interviewing, I recommend you read The Mom Test: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01H4G2J1U/ref=pe_385040_118058080_TE_M1DP
It's a great read that will help you ask the right questions. Hope this helps.
I agree with what every single person has posted so far. I'm going to add this one because I appreciate the approach and framework:
I prefer customer interviews, e.g. The mom test (not affiliated) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01H4G2J1U - you'll be able to capture potential problems that surveys will not.
I have also used Mechanical Turk on a few times but it was mostly a waste (for trying to validate product idea / improve onboarding / identifying new customer segments).
You're exactly right. Software won't sell itself and customers have no idea what your software does (or your service) until someone can analyze where they could use your help and present it in a nice package. You need some Challengers
I've read a ton. For some reason the only one that comes to mind is SPIN Selling
These are really good books, please read them. You need the knowledge that these books provide. They will also have a nice byproduct of increasing your income.
> As for the Eurostat numbers you said the AfD were the leeches not the economic migrants.
Did I? You might want to double check that.
> The numbers showed that yes the migrants were leeches
The survey said that a majority of them want to work and are struggling to find it.
What's your education level?
Read Predictable Revenue by Aaron Ross: https://www.amazon.com/Predictable-Revenue-Business-Practices-Salesforce-com/dp/0984380213 This will be your bible, all successful b2b tech sales organizations use many components of this book.
- Try local facebook groups or paid facebook ads.
- Read Predictable Revenue by Aaron Ross or just read it summary (page 8 is about compensation)
- I would check your competitors or similar companies how they attract sales people and where do they have the job offers.
For those of you still reading books, Dealers of Lightning is an incredible book that talks about working at PARC during that time.
Haha SPIN selling, looks like you really enjoyed that book. FYI, you might like: https://www.amazon.com/Challenger-Sale-Control-Customer-Conversation/dp/1591844355/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1488349587&sr=8-1&keywords=challenger+sale
Amazing material and evrything explained smoothly. Thanks nycsalesguy
here is the book It teaches about how to present your product/service as a valuable solution for the client!
Friend, I don't normally recommend books to posters, but I'll make an exception here.
I read this book a few years ago and found it useful throughout my career. It's called "Influence" and it focuses on how to be persuasive. It may save you a lot of headaches in the future if you can learn today how to be influential tomorrow. Telling people to do something and using "because the CEO said to do it" is rarely going to make a positive impact.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0205609996/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Cheers!
> because I don't know what I want.
Only very few people know what they want at your age. So no need to worry about it.
Since you are already in college, focus on completing it properly and at the same time, you definitely need a goal. Without a goal and a map & plan to get to that goal, you'll just go around & around.
Try reading this book, www.amazon.com/dp/0671646788.
Check this thread too, https://redd.it/4euvjy, which was submitted 6 hours after you made this thread (LOA in action, showing a sign for your query) :)
It might be able to change your opinion
It's a pretty simple yet tricky thing to do. I found Predictable Revenue (a book) to be a solid summary of how to go about this problem:
http://www.amazon.com/Predictable-Revenue-Business-Practices-Salesforce-com/dp/0984380213